Page 66 of Forsaken Devotion: Part 2
“You hurt her.”
I stiffened even more. I knew that, but the only one who had the right to shame me was my mate. A growl built in my throat, but I bit it back. She’d suffered in there, it was obvious, but she hadn’t said much other than the brief snippets.
“I don’t know how exactly all this shifter-shit works, but I knowyouhad something to do with how much she suffered. She had random bouts of paralyzing agony and nausea, but even those attacks were nothing to herintense—” she choked out. “The first time it happened, I remember it so clearly. Her discomfort was soobvious, but the worst came an hour after it began. It was like she was possessed. All she could do was whimper and cry.”
Her words battered against me, as sharp as a knife slicing. “Every time she felt it come on, she started a fight to get herself sent to isolation. Do you know how long you get stuck in isolation?” Her tone was accusatory. “Thirty days. She was stuck in there each time.”
I counted internally as she continued to rant. Josephine would have spent nine heats alone, in agony without me there to care for her. I was gifted a fated, and she’d had to live with that . . .
“And then you had the audacity to isolate her and lie to her? You don’t deserve her,” she spat. “You should let her go?—”
I snarled, slicing her with my gaze. She clamped her lips shut, her face stiffening.
“I don’t deserve her,” I sneered. “But she’smine.”
My lip wouldn’t stop twitching. No one would take her, and if she were saying this to my mate, I should kill her. I stepped forward, a growl rumbling in my throat.
Verity backed away, her eyes wide. Likely sensing her impending death. Any who tried to keep my mate from me would die?—
“Enough,” Alex bit out, finally emerging from the shadow of the house. His shout pulled me out of my rage. I met his eyes, and he quickly dropped his, jogging over to step in front of the human. “I will handle her, Alpha,” he murmured.
I grunted and continued on my path inside the house. Her words swirled in my head. The reality of Josephine’s life for the last four years. For a crime she never committed. It was all my fault.
I clasped the banister, gripping it on my way up the stairs until I reached the top. Our bedroom door was open, and the sound of the shower spilled out as soon as I reached it. I nudged inside and shut it quietly.
Light spilled out of the archway leading into the bathroom. Soap suds slid down her nude body.
Josephine was such a beauty. I loved every inch. I yearned for every bit of her.
I stepped under the spray, fully dressed and uncaring of the cast. Water pelted the back of my head, plastering my hair down.
I collected her in my arms, clasping her so tight she grunted. I straightened, and her feet lifted off the ground.
My mate was incredibly strong. I buried my nose in her neck, smelling her. She would never suffer again.
Guilt settled in my gut, and it would never fade. After everything she had been through, I didn’t deserve not to feel wretched.
Maybe, at some point in the future, it would abate, but years would still be too soon.
“I’m sorry.”
She moved her shoulders as if trying to pull back, but I couldn’t loosen my grip, nor did I want to.
“Lucian?” She squeezed my shirt.
I didn’t say anything more, just held her.
It took her a moment, and she finally drooped against me, her hands settling against my sides, smoothing them in a gentle glide.
25
Itapped the tip of my heel against the floor mat of Verity’s car.
“I’m so glad you were there; otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to leave.”
Her eyes widened, and her head whipped toward me. “He would have forced you to stay?”
“Eyes on the road.” I squeaked from her swerving into the right-hand merging lane. I slapped my hand on my heaving chest.
